Tuesday Treat Day

You are going to want to make these! Best. Pancakes. Ever.

I made these over the weekend and we liked them so much we had them for breakfast and dinner (it makes about 12 large pancakes)! I got this recipe from Health magazine January/February 2010 issue. I did some modifications to make this even more figure friendly! I hope you try them!

(my modifications are: used all whole wheat flour, egg beaters, 2% buttermilk--since I couldn't find 1%, 2 tbsp brown sugar and skim milk to offset the 1% buttermilk. I also didn't make the blueberry sauce, as I added some fresh blueberries/bananas to the mix and used maple syrup instead). Here is the recipe as printed in Health Magazine:

Oatmeal Pancakes with Wild Blueberry Sauce

Soak 1.5 cups of Rolled Oats in 1 cup 1% buttermilk in a small bowl for 15 minutes.

Combine:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
2 large eggs
2 large egg whites
1 1/2 cup low fat milk

Mix in oatmeal mixture and blend (batter will be thick).

Wild Blueberry Sauce:

2 cups frozen wild blueberries
1/4 cup sugar
1 tbsp. lemon juice

IMPACT OUR WORLD

I know I take many things for granted. One of them is water. I don't think twice about turning on the sink and seeing clean, clear water. But for many people, they do not have this advantage. They don't take water for granted like I do. In fact, they don't even have running water in their homes. Millions of children (especially) die each year because they can't get clean water, so they drink dirty, contaminated water that is harmful to anyone who drinks it.

There wasn't much you or I could do for those people a few years ago, unless we gave a donation to a charity who provides this. But, now PUR is providing children and families with clean drinking water. They have created the Children's Safe Drinking Water Program. They distribute packets that turns dirty water into clean drinking water. AMAZING!!

Now, here is your part:

For every product PUR sells, they will make sure someone gets 10 liters of clean drinking water in an area that needs it. You can also become a fan on Facebook and they will do the same thing!

This is a pretty easy way to help make a difference in our world! Become a fan here and to find out more about PUR's program, go here!

If we work together, we can overcome together!

Peace!

PS--if you have a blog, please post this information to help spread the word!

Giant Deals 1-31

Shannon has the best deals for Giant too! Check them out here. Here are my favs:

Post Select Cereals 2/$4.00
use $1.00/2 in 1/17 SS
use $2.00/1 Post Printable Coupon
FREE after coupon

Red or Green Seedless Grapes $1.49 lb.

Wholly Guacamole BOGO
use $1.00/1 in 1/31 RP

Kraft Shredded Cheese 3/$5.00
use $1.00/2 in 1/3 SS
use $1.00/2 printable Kraft Cheese Coupon
$1.33 after coupon

Ragu Pasta Sauce $1.69
use $.75/1 in 1/31 rp
$.94 after coupon

Weis Deals 1-31

Shannon, over at For the Mommas, has the best Weis deals this week. Here are my favs:

Nature Made Vitamins BOGO
use $1.00/1 in 1/31 ss

Philadelphia Cream Cheese 4/$5.00
use $1.00/4 printable coupon
$1.00 after coupon

Heluva Good Dips 2/$3.00
use $.50/1 printable coupon
use $1.00/2 in 1/24 ss
$1.00 each after coupon

Claussen Pickles $2.99
use $1.00/1 printable coupon
$1.99 after coupon

Thanks Shannon!

Look what I got Free in the Mail.....Part 1

I love free things! It's such a nice feeling to open the mailbox and see free things!!! Here is what I got:

Weight Watchers Magazine & Free samples of Lipton Green Tea

NYRS Update

I forgot to update my New Years Resolution. My official weigh in day is on Saturday and as of Jan. 30, 2010, my total weight loss is 9.5 lbs!! I'm so happy about that! I have 5.5 more pounds until I reach my first goal of 15 lbs by March 1, 2010. I think I will be able to do it!

I have to be honest and say I have not stuck to my exercise 5 times a week resolution. I decided that I needed to start 1 thing first and then add more "resolutions" after I accomplish one. Right now, I feel like I have conquered some food issues and know how to deal with them when they come back (think the hungry monster from the Weight Watcher's commericals). So, this month, I hope to exercise more.

As I have said before, I'm not following a plan, but I am waiting for Dr. Oz to contact me!! I am melting a bunch of great advice into my plan. Here are some of my melting pot diet secrets (OK, they aren't secrets, but I just could find a better word):

1. Eat more fish. (2-4 times a week, either for lunch or dinner)
2. Eat more vegetarian meals (2 per week for dinner or lunch, if leftovers)
3. Cut out as much sugar as possible.
4. Limit Sodium (I try not to have more than 1000mg per day, some days it's easy, some it's really hard)
5. Eat the same thing for breakfast (either steel cut oats or cheerios with my son)
6. Increase healthy fats (olive oil, salmon, almond butter, nuts, canola oil)
7. Limit or eliminate refined/processed foods
8. Whole wheat/grain everything (bread, pasta, flour)
9. Cheating is OK in moderation
10. Watch Dr. Oz once a week (he scares me a in a good way, motivating!)

OK Dr. Oz, I'm waiting!

Shopping Trip

I was a mad woman. I went to CVS, Darrenkamps, Giant & Weis in one night (I really needed to get out of the house)! Here is the breakdown (from last weeks sales).

Giant (I really wanted to get Greek Yogurt, but they were out, so I got a rain check):
Apples, Baby Wash, Kidney Beans, Pasta
Total before savings: $15.36
Total Coupons: $1.75
Total BC Savings: $1.43
Total OOP: $12.18

Weis:
Bread, Yogurt, Chicken, Wheat Thins, Tomato Sauce, Kashi Cereal, Baby Lotion, Baby Yogurt, Oatmeal
Total before savings: $44.27
Total coupons: 8.69
Total Club Savings: $12.78
Total OOP: $22.80

Darrenkamps:
Milk, Buttermilk, Bananas, Cheese, Whole Wheat Flour
Total before savings: $17.27
Total Coupons: $0.00
Total Club Savings: $4.16
Total OOP: 13.11

CVS: Isn't included in my grocery budget


Total Spent: $48.09

(I'm over $8.09 for the 1st week in February and I will try to make it up in the coming weeks!)

Get them before they are gone!

It's the end of the month and coupons with either reset or be gone, so make sure to print them this weekend!

Coupons.com


Smartsource.com

Redplum.com

Sorry.....

I have to take a few days off, as my husband had surgery yesterday and is recovering! I should be back this weekend with great deals! Thanks!

Family Owned Markets 1-25

Here are the best deals at the FOM's. Make sure you check out your store's website, as many have store coupons. And, each FOM has a different coupon policy, some take internet coupons and some don't.


Era Liquid Laundry (50 oz) $3.88

Bananas $.39 lb

Bryer's Yogurt $.39

Perdue Chicken Thighs or Drumsticks $.69 lb

Crystal Farms Shredded/Chunk or American Cheese $1.88 each

Crystal Farms Cream Cheese $.99

Crystal Farms Butter $1.98

Weight Watchers Yogurt 5/$3
$1/5 here
5/$2 or $.40 each

Ritz Crackers 2/$5
$1/1 from 1-24 SS insert
$1.50 each

Carnation Evap. Milk $.99
$1/2 here
2/$.98

Silk Soy Milk 2/$6
$.75/1 here
$2.00 each

Weis Deals 1-24

Shannon, over at For the Mommas, has the best Weis deals this week! Here are my favs:

Ronzoni Healthy Harvest Pastas 10/$10.00
use $1.00/2 in 1/10 SS
$.50 after coupon

Quaker Granola Bars 3/$6.00
use $.55/1 in 1/3 RP
$.90 after coupon

Coke Products 4/$11.00
Get Two free Snyders Products wyb 4

PS--I believe Shannon's Weis doubles coupons up to $1.50. I know in Lancaster County, Weis only doubles up to $1.00, so some of her prices will be different than ours. Please take that into account when making your list!

Thanks Shannon!

Giant Deals 1-24

Shannon, over at For the Mommas has the best deals at Giant this week.

Here are my favs:

Oikos Organic Greek Yogurt 10/$10.00
use $1.00/1 in 1/3 ss
FREE after coupon

I Can’t Believe it’s not Butter $1.79
use $.50/1 in 11/18 RP
$.79 after coupon

Healthy Choice Select Meals 3/$5.00
use $1.00/2 in 1/3 ss
$1.16 each after coupon

Barilla Pasta 10/$10.00
use $.75/1 in 01/03 SS (if plus is included)
$.25 after coupon

Thanks Shannon!

NYRU

Well, Dr. Oz's people haven't contacted me yet, but on Saturday, my official weigh in day, I was down another 2 lbs! Making it a total of 7.5 lbs since January 1! I am very encouraged and am happy to say that my pants are a wee little bit looser!

Super Swag Bucks Day!

Have you ever heard of Swagbucks? No? I didn't either until a few months ago. Swagbucks is a search engine site where you can earn "bucks" by searching the Internet. It's really easy to use and you can use your accumulated points for things like gift cards to Amazon, Paypal, B&N or save up to "purchase" XBox 360.

Before the holidays I was able to score some great gift cards to use for presents! For signing up, you get 5 bucks and Friday's are Super Swag Buck Days where you could earn up to 10,000 bucks just for searching!

It's a great way to get a little extra something for nothing! Just click on Swagbucks above and you will be directed to Swagbucks!

Free App at Macaroni Grill

Join the Macaroni Grill's Mac Pack to receive a free appetizer and more savings!

Thanks AThriftyMom!

Big Lots Coupon

Go here for a new 20% off coupon from Big Lots. To find a store near you, click here!

New Printables

$10/$30 Party City

20% off entire purchase at Gap

$1/1 Quaker Oats

$.50/1 Chocolate Cheerio's

B1G1 Free Sunbelt Granola Bars

$1/1 Baked Lays Product

$1/2 Rold Gold Pretzels

$1/1 Frigo Cheese (let the page load and you will see the link for the coupon)

Aldi's

I had a few minutes to myself this afternoon, so I ran a few errands and I went to Aldi's to pick up a few things. For the past couple of weeks, I've been looking for wild salmon. Every time I go to get it, the store is out of it, so since I was at Aldi's I checked. They had 2 kinds of wild salmon (frozen and each fillet individually vacuum sealed), one was regular wild salmon and the other is wild sockeye salmon. I bought the wild sockeye salmon for $6.99 (4-4oz fillets). I made them for dinner tonight and I will be buying them again! I was very happy with them and I really love Aldi's.

I have to admit, you do have to price shop, as they do not accept coupons and there are some items that you can get cheaper at say, Giant or Weis. But you can find some interesting things there and some things are much cheaper than the grocery store.

Just an idea of some of the prices:

Sockeye Salmon: $6.99
Wild Salmon: $3.99
Flounder: $3.99
Graham Crackers: $1.49
1 lb Celery: $.99
Hummus: $1.39
Canola Oil: $1.99 (large bottle, I just paid $2.55 for the same thing and that was with a coupon!)

Here is some things to know before you shop at Aldi's:

1. Bring a quarter. To get a cart, you need to insert a quarter. You will get the quarter back when you return the cart, but this ensures that people don't leave carts laying around in the parking lot banging up cars.
2. Bring your own bags. They have bags for sale that you can pack your groceries in, but one way they keep costs down is by not supplying bags, so bring your own (plus it's better for the environment).
3. Get chocolate! Aldi's is a Germany company, so they carry European chocolate a lot cheaper than specialty stores! It just doesn't have the same wrapper!
4. They have a double your money back guarantee! A few months ago I tried their diapers. Not so good, but I took them back and I got my money back and a box of wipes. It was really hassle free to return it. (Basically their policy is money back and then you get to try a new product, so if I wasn't satisfied with the salmon, I would get my money back and get another fish to try).

On a last note, it's a little know fact that Aldi's is a sister store of Trader Joe's. You see there are 2 brothers who own Aldi's in Europe. One of them owns Trader Joe's in America and the other owns Aldi's in America!

Kohl's

Use this code to score an extra 20% off at Kohl's. Today only! Code: YOURGIFT. Free shipping on orders over $75, but if you have a Kohl's card, you can take 30% off and free shipping with the following codes (I'm not sure if you can stack it with the 20% off, but it's worth a try!):

30% off code: KCSAVE30
free shipping code: FREEMVCSHIP

Kohl's has a lot on clearance right now, so these codes will make an even sweeter deal!

Two years and counting.......

Two years ago today, I married a man. He's not the man that I had conjured up in my childhood dreams. He isn't even the man of my adult dreams. He's the man who is far more dreamier than any of those dreams of past. Far more handsome, loving, supportive and all and all, amazing. Far more of a better parent and I love him so much!

Happy Anniversary Babe!

Lowes.com

Lowes.com is offering 10% off your purchase when you use code: MOVER10 or you can use code: LOWES50 to get $10/$50 or more!

Giant Deals 1-17

Shannon, over at For the Momma's has the best deals at Giant this week! Here are my favorites:

Weight Watchers Smart Ones Entrees 6/$10.00
use B5Get 1 Free Breakfast Sandwich
use B1G1 up to $3.89 (if you were able to print it)
get 7th one free instore wyb 6
Get 7 Entrees, One Breakfast Sandwich
$1.25 each after coupon

Barilla Plus Pasta $1.79
use $.75/1 in 01/03 SS
use $1.00/1 in 12/06 SS
$.79 after coupon

Texas Pete Hot Sauce $.79
use $.55/1 in 10/18 ss
$.24 after coupon

Weis Deals 1-18

Shannon, over at For the Mommas, has the best deals for Weis this week, starting tomorrow! Here are my favorites:

Pepsi Products 12 ct. 4/$11.00
$5.00 off when you purchase four 12 ct. Pepsi Products and Two Frito Lay or Tostitos Products with club card

Birds Eye Steamfresh or Blends 2/$4.00
use $.50/1 in 1/10 ss
$1.00 after coupon

Ken’s Salad Dressing BOGO
use $1.00/2 in 01/10 RP

Thanks Shannon!

NRYU

I can't believe it's Saturday already! This week went really quick, but I guess it would since we were trying to stay warm and cozy at home due to the cold weather!

Well, today is my weigh in day and I am happy to report I am down 4.5 lbs this week, for a total of 5.5 lbs since January 1!!! This makes me feel so much better! I was feeling a little discouraged the first week with only losing 1 lb, but was determined to keep going. It really makes me want to do even better this coming week!

To make it easier for me to stick with, I have made little goals to accomplish. My first goal is to lose 10 lbs by March 1, and then keep going! My second goal is to get my "numbers" down by April 1, meaning, waist size, blood pressure, LDL and triglycerides down (yes, I do sometimes watch Dr. Oz and am going to re-read his book "YOU on a diet". He scares the crap out of me, and that's a good thing).

Does anyone have any other New Year's Resolutions to share? I'd love to hear them!

I have not started a designed diet program (i.e. Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig, etc) and am not being compensated (with money or free products) to mention or review any Dr. Oz products, these are my own thoughts and feelings, but if Dr. Oz's people would like to get in touch (which would be awesome!), my email is listed on this blog!

Thank you

Hi everyone!!!

I hope everyone is having a great week! I just wanted to write a note to ask you a favor. I know I do not have a very large following. With that said, I want to ask you each to help me out! I'd like this to be a great blog, dedicated to finding the best deals out there to save all of us some money. I'd also like this blog to have some substance as well, with recipes, my weight loss (success) story, how we can impact our world and so forth. So, here's what I'm asking:

1. Tell as many people about my blog as you can. If you have your own blog, please post a link to my blog on yours. If you don't have a blog, then word of mouth, facebook, email, etc. are really awesome tools too!

2. Tell me what you want to see! If you shop at Walmart all the time and want to see the coupon matches and such, then let me know! If you want me to start shopping at other places, like Sharp Shopper, Amelia's so you can find good deals, then please tell me!!

You can email me at frugalistainpa@gmail.com or you can leave a comment (just click the comment word below and it will prompt you further on how to do it!).

I'm really looking forward to hearing from you!

Have a fantastic weekend!

IMPACT YOUR WORLD

I wanted to share a list of places you can donate money for the people of Haiti. Unfortunately, when there is tragedy, there are also people taking advantage of "good Samaritans". This list is from CNN, they are the highest rated charities. Right now, the biggest need is money. You can also Text "Haiti" to 90999, and a $10 donation is added to your cell phone bill. How easy is that?

If you can't afford to send money at this time, prayers are also needed!

New Joann Fabric Coupon

Go over here for a new Joann coupon. Expires 1/30!

Printable Coupons around the webosphere

$1.00/1 Quaker Oatmeal

$10.00/$30.00 at Border's

$5.00/$20.00 at CVS

$1.00/1 Kettle Chips

$.75/1 Soy Dream Soymilk

$10.00/$25.00 Yankee Candle purchase

(thanks Coupon Gal!)

Amazon Kid Shoe Sale

Amazon is having a great shoe sale for kids. Up to 70% off regular prices and if you spend over $25, shipping is free (or if you subscribe to Amazon Prime)!

I just bought these great sneakers for Michael. Original Price: $110 Sale Price: $35!!! I tried to find these cheaper at other sites, but the cheapest I found was $55!!!

Oreos & the Manning's

Head on over to Facebook to join Oreo's the Manning's vs. the Donald's for a chance to win a free package of Oreo's on January 24, 2010. I love their commercials, I think the Manning's are hysterical (however, I thought the commercials with the William sisters are the best!). Hopefully the Manning's will win!

Grocery Roundup

As you know, our weekly family grocery budget is $40. I have to admit that in the month of December, I went over, a lot, preparing for our holiday and splurging a bit on things we normally don't buy. So, out with the old and in with the new. I stopped by Giant on Saturday to use the $1 double coupons and pick up some groceries that we needed for the week.



Green Tea-$2.29
4 Gerber Baby Food Packs: $1.03 each
Martins Chips: $.99
Giant Bread: Free
Canola Oil: $3.55
2 Sardines: $.95 each
Olive Oil: $6.99
Steel Cut Oats: $2.99
2 Light Bulbs: $1.49 each
2 Blueberries: B1G1 $3.99
Bananas: $1.69
6 Dannon Yogurt: $.40 each
9 Chobani Greek Yogurt: $1.00 each

I had coupons for almost everything except Olive Oil & Steel Cut Oats.

Total before coupons & Bonus Card Savings: $60.38
Total Bonuscard Savings: $24.57
Total Coupon Savings: 7.60
Total OOP: $28.27

I also went shopping last week, but wasn't able to post it. Here is the breakdown:

Total before savings: $56.77
Total BC Savings: $19.97
Total Coupon Savings: $3.00
Total OOP: $33.99

Right now I'm $17.74 under budget!

Did you get any good deals this month? Post them here!

Printable Coupons around the webosphere

Click on each item to bring up the coupon in another window.  Remember, you can print 2 per computer!

$1.00/1 Playtex Tampons

$1.00/1 Tom's of Maine Toothpaste

$1.00/1 Cheerios

$1.00/1 Tazo Tea

$0.75/1 Hellman's Mayo

$1.00/2 Kraft 2% Cheese

$1.00/1 Naked Juice

$1.50/1 Jergen's Sensitive Skin Lotion

Target Coupons

(Thanks For the Momma's & Coupon Gal!)

New Years Resolution Update

From now on, this will be called NYRU.  It's been 1 week since I blogged about my resolution.  I have to say the beginning of the week was great!  The end of the week, not so much :(  But, I managed to lose 1 lb, which is 1 lb closer to my goal!  I was hoping to lose more due to my eliminating sweets & refined carbs, but the last 2 days weren't that great in that regard and I wasn't able to exercise 5 times this week, only 2.  But I am not giving up.  Yes, I slipped up, but I am not letting it me get down (OK, I am beating myself up a little). 

Thanks for indulging me and reading this post. 

How has your NYR going?  Let me know!

HOT CVS Coupon!

Go over here to snag a $5/$20 to CVS.  There are no restrictions on this coupon in terms of location, so it should work anywhere!

Coupon expires 1/9/2010.

(Thanks iheartcvs!)

Shoe Sale

I'm a recovering shoeaholic.  I used to wear heels everyday, but then I met my husband.  I wore them while we were dating, until he said I needed to wear functional shoes, so I could walk faster.  Now, I sadly wear flats everywhere.  Don't get me wrong.  I can't imagine wearing heels now, going on errands and such, but every once in awhile, when my husband and I can get out for dinner with friends or by ourselves (which is very few and far between), it's nice to slide a pair of high heels on, it's an instant ego boost!

Anyway, right now, Nine West is having an end of the season sale, with some prices slashed down 70%!   Boots, flats and high heels are marked down!  Spend $50 or more and shipping is free as well!

These will do....

Lands End Sale

Check out Lands End winter clearance and overstocks (which includes summer clothes!) for some great sale prices.  Add code JAN7 and pin 5024 at checkout to get free shipping!

January Giant Coupons!

Giant has released their January coupons! 

Go here for $2 off $5 produce purchase

Go here for $2 off Nature's Bounty vitamin purchase

Sign up on the Giant website to receive monthly coupons like these in your email!  (you will need your Giant Bonus Card # when signing up!)

Children's Place

Wow, there are a lot of deals out there!  Children's Place has many items marked down to $4.99 each!  Check them out here. 

Family Owned Market Deals 1/4/10

Family Owned Markets are having a pretty good sale. Don't forget to check your Family Owned Market website to extra savings with store coupons!

Campbells Tomato or Chicken Noodle: $.50
$1/4 (tomato only) here

Dannon Yogurt: $.38
$1/6 here

VO5 Shampoo or Conditioner: $.79

SpecialK: 4 for $10.00
$1/1 here

Boneless/Skinless Chicken Breast: $1.49 lb (value pack only)

Kraft Mac n' Cheese: $.69

Apples: $.98 lb.

Cantolopes: $.98 each

Coldwater Creek Sale

Up to 75% off!!! Enter code: 75sale at checkout to get these prices.

Another tidbit on lowering Grocery costs

I wanted to share another tidbit with you about lowering grocery costs, which I have been doing for the past couple of months.

I write down every single item we need and then shop off the list. BUT, say we need peanut butter. I will not buy it until I have a coupon and it's on sale, so it stays on my list (sometimes for weeks) until I can buy it cheap. It's not something that we must have at that very moment, not like say milk or yogurt. It's something that can wait until there is a good sale and then I stock up on them. When I say stock up, I don't mean 1 or 2, I mean as many as I have coupons for. So, I might buy 6 peanut butter jars at once.

I know what you are thinking, 6??? How can we possibly eat that much? Well, the expiration date is usually a year or so from when I buy it, so we do eat it all. It's also a very good item to donate!

50 free prints!

CVS is offering 50 free prints when you sign up with them for your film developing needs. Go here to get this deal (you don't have to sign your pictures away to them all the time, just sign up to get the free prints!)

FREE H1N1 Flu Vaccine in PA

Do you or your children still need an H1N1 vaccine? Well, if you live in the state of PA, then check out www.h1n1inpa.com under "what's hot" or call 1-877-PA HEALTH from 9-5pm. They have clinics set up this week on January 8 & 9 from 8am-4pm across the state.

PS--you don't have to be a high risk person to get these shots, they are available to anyone and they are FREE!

Britax Car Seat Closeouts!

You will want to hurry and get yours now. What a great price. Amazon is having a closeout on Britax car seats right now. If you have heard of Britax, then you know that the following is a great deal. If you don't know Britax, check them out. They are the safest car seats on the market today!

Britax Diplomat--reg. price: $259.99 Amazon price: $169.99

Britax Regent Youth Seat--reg. price: $249.99 Amazon price: $179.99

Free Budget Download

Speaking of budgets, The Coupon Project has a great tool for you to download free on her website. It's very comprehensive and the best part is you don't have to create it yourself! Just head on over and download it to your computer!

Thanks The Coupon Project!

Bringing Down your Monthly Grocery Budget

Over the past couple of months, I have been talking to a bunch of people about their grocery budgets, or lack thereof. What I heard is that those that have a grocery budget, try to stick to it, but feel it's OK to go over about $20 a month and those that have no budget feel they don't know how to get themselves on a budget.

Well, here are some practical steps I took to getting my family on a budget and keeping that budget every month.

1. Make a budget, even if you think it's ridiculous. Before we had our son, I was spending over $100 each week at the grocery store for 2 people. I didn't really use coupons and I didn't pay attention to sales. So as my son's due date approached close and closer, I knew we had to do something so I could stay at home with him. So, I told myself that our budget would be $90 a week (again for the two of us). I did that for a month to see if I could do it and you know what I did it. So then I kept lowering it and lowering it and soon, I was at our current budget of $40 a week, but now it's for the 3 of us.

Even shaving off $10 a week really adds up. That's an extra $520 a year that could be used towards car insurance or whatever else you might need.

2. Start clipping coupons. I heard from my friend that she's picky in terms of the groceries she buys and cannot clip coupons because there aren't any for what she needs them for. OK, I say. But are you picky about what kitchen cleaner you use? The Sunday coupons are generally heavy with cleaners, personal hygene & yes, food products. If you aren't picky about the cleaners, start clipping those coupons. Use them when they are on sale to get a greater impact on your grocery budget.

I used to think I wouldn't use any of the coupons in the paper until I started looking at them each week to see and compare what I bought each week.

Also, did you know most companies post printable coupons on their websites? So, if you have a food allergy or like to buy organic, then check out their website for either printable coupons or sign up for their mailings or emails and they will either send them to you in the mail or email you about promotions, like printable coupons.

3. As I said above, pair coupons with sales. I have scored a lot of free or under $1 name-brand items this way.

4. Take it slow. If you don't have a budget, try one for a couple of weeks and go from there. If you do have a budget, try not to go over for a couple of weeks. Also, if you know there will be a time when your food bill will be more, say like around the holidays or so, factor that in to your budget.

Giant Deals 1/3/10

For the Momma's has the best Giant deals this week. Here are my top picks:

Boneless Chicken Breast $1.79/lb

Shady Brook Farms Ground Turkey BOGO

Electrasol Dish Detergent $3.99
use $2.50/1 in 1/03 inserts
$1.49 after coupon

Thanks Shannon!

Penny Prints

Snapfish is having a great sale on prints. 50 prints for $.50!!!! Head on over to Snapfish to get all your holiday pictures! If you have more than 50 pictures, then it's $.09 each additional print, which is still a really good price!!

Enter code: NEWYEAR50

Offer expires January 7!

A couple of deals to help keep your New Year's Resolution!

If you are like most people (and me) you have made a resolution this year to get healthier. Well, here are a few deals that will help you keep your resolution well into the year!

Biggest Loser Wii Game $19.99 here

Wight Watchers Magazine for $3/year here (use code N1005 at checkout for this price)

Spark People--are you looking for a website that helps you track calories in/out, recipes and connect with other people? Well, look no farther. Spark People is free and offers those things and more! Check it out here!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!!

As you may have noticed, I've been MIA for the last month or so. I apologize, as we had some family stuff come up and I needed to take a small break from the blog. Over the past month, I have been thinking a lot about this blog and I want I share and not share on it. There are some great ladies out there that do a much better job at getting all the great deals know than I am, so I want to do something that I am passionate about. Something that means the most to me. So, as the new year is here, I am going to change my blog a bit.

I am still going to have deals listed, retail, groceries and more, but I also want to include recipes, financial information and most importantly, my diet.

Now, I have some disclaimers to provide to you.

Recipes. I have already been doing the occasional Tuesday Treat Day, which I will continue, but it might not always have a treat listed (see below). It might be what I'm making for dinner or something of the sort and I would encourage you to email me with a recipe and picture of something you make and I can post those as well.

Financial information. I don't have a degree in finance, but what I want to provide to you is what my family is doing in terms of finance. How much we spend on groceries each week, how much we're saving on them with coupons and sales, etc. It's not something you must do in your family, but I have found that I have learned what works for us by hearing from other people. So hopefully it will help you as well and if not, then that's OK too.

Lastly, diet. I went to the doctors a few weeks ago and found out I had startling blood work results. It has really opened my eyes and I can longer say, "I'm going to start my diet tomorrow." So, I have already started my diet. I am a self professed sugaraholic, so this is my first battle to overcome, eliminating sugar/baked goods from my diet. Now, again, I don't have a degree in nutrition, nor am I a doctor, but I know for me to be healthy, I will need to eliminate sugar and baked goods, at least as much as possible. I also need to lose a lot of weight, so I hope you will indulge me and help me stay accountable. While I am doing this for me, I also want to make sure I meet my grandchildren and grow old with my super husband.

So, with that said, my January goal is to work out 5 times a week (week is from Sunday to Saturday) for 60 mins and eliminate sugar slowly. Hopefully, I can lose about 5-8 lbs this month. I am taking the mindset of "1 day at a time".

Blessings to you all on this New Year!